Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

Elizabeth Elkins

25/03/1871

Domestic servant who married Arthur Elkins

Relatives

Arthur James Elkins — husband

Leslie Ernest Elkins — son

• Melanie Hilton

Unmarked grave Elizabeth Elkins (née Batchelor) (1871-1943)

Elizabeth was born 25 March 1871, Berkhamsted, the daughter of Henry and Ann Batchelor. Her father was a farm labourer and the family lived in Castle Street.

When she was 21, in 1891, Elizabeth was employed as a domestic servant at “Sunnyside”, Ellesmere Road. The census shows her, and another young woman, named as “caretaker”, living there alone.

She married Arthur James Elkins, in 1902 in Berkhamsted and they lived at 16, Chapel Street.

They were to have seven children: Kathleen (1903), Reginald (1904), Winifred Florence (1905), Kenneth Arthur (1907), Leslie Ernest (born and died in 1908, who is buried in this cemetery), Sylvia Rosalie (1910) and Joan L (1913).

In 1911 Arthur was working as an upholsterer. By 1921 he was a self-employed furniture remover. Kathleen, an unemployed solicitor’s clerk; Reginald, helping his father in the business and Sylvia and Joan, both at school, were living at home.

In 1939 they were living at “Bournsted”, Chestnut Drive, Berkhamsted.

Elizabeth died in 1943 aged 72, shortly after Arthur passed away.

Arthur James Elkins

01/10/1873 –1943

An upholsterer and remaoval man; convicted of animal cruelty

Relatives

Leslie Ernest Elkins — son

Elizabeth Elkins — wife

• Melanie Hilton

Unmarked grave Arthur James Elkins (1873-1943)

Arthur was born 1 October 1873 in Hemel Hempstead to unmarried mother Lucy Elkins, a straw plaiter.

In 1881 he was living with his widowed grandmother, his mother and his uncle, a carpenter, at 1, Union Square, Queen Street, Hemel Hempstead.

His mother gave birth to another son, Ernest, in 1882 and in 1891 both boys were living with their grandmother in Union Square. Arthur, aged 15, was a paper mill hand, employed by John Dickinson’s in Apsley.

In 1901 Lucy and her two sons were living in Union Square. Arthur was a parcels delivery driver and Ernest a plumber.

Arthur married Elizabeth Batchelor in 1902 in Berkhamsted and they lived at 16, Chapel Street.

They were to have seven children: Kathleen (1903), Reginald (1904), Winifred Florence (1905), Kenneth Arthur (1907), Leslie Ernest (born and died in 1908. He is buried in this cemetery), Sylvia Rosalie (1910) and Joan L (1913).

In 1911 Arthur was working as an upholsterer. By 1921 he was a self-employed furniture remover.

In October 1917 he was summonsed for driving without a light. In November that year he was before the magistrates on the far more serious charge of what the chairman of the Bench described as the “worst case [of animal cruelty] we have had before the bench in my recollection.” It appears that the horse he used to pull his removals van had to be destroyed by the vet because it was so badly starved that it was “skin and bone” and unable to get up.

Arthur argued that he had given the animal all he could, given wartime restrictions.

He was found guilty and the magistrates told him that, if he had not got a family, he would have been sent to prison. He was fined £10 with a £1 vet’s fee (£668 in 2026).

In 1921 Arthur and Elizabeth were living at 16, Chapel Street. Kathleen, an unemployed solicitor’s clerk; Reginald, helping his father in the business and Sylvia and Joan, both at school, were all living at home.

In 1939 they were living at “Bournsted”, Chestnut Drive, Berkhamsted.

Arthur died in 1943 and Elizabeth shortly after.